TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A five-year-old Mongolian girl, Otgonzul, will undergo surgery at Taiwan National University Hospital (TNUH, 臺大醫院), and will hopefully be able to return to school in Mongolia, her healthy right arm showing from her t-shirt, just like every any other schoolgirl, said a representative for Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF, 家扶基金會).

According to TFCF Mongolian Branch Office, Otgonzul was born without a thumb on her right hand or a right forearm. Raised by a single mother who struggled on a very low income, Otgonzul and her two sisters currently reside in a factory storage room, instead of a Mongolian yurt, or small nomadic dwelling. Her mother's salary could only just meet their daily necessities. Paying for Otgonzul's arm surgery was out of the question.

Just like many other Mongolian children, given their financial situation and Mongolia's poor medical resources, Otgonzul was in little hope of treatment. According to TFCF's Mongolian Branch Office, most children could only hope that foreign surgeons would come to Mongolia, or foreign funds would come to support overseas medical treatment.

In Otgonzul's case, she was luckily met by representatives from ChildFund Korea last October, whose social workers then raised a fund of NT$1.72 million for TFCF Mongolian branch. The purpose of the fund is to pay for children's medical treatment, overseas transportation fees, and for dietary and nutritional support.

Otgonzul was then the first child to travel overseas for medical treatment with the support of ChildFund Korea.

She has now undergone her first operation, with two more to go before she stands a chance of gaining a healthy right hand and arm. Otgonzul's mother expressed her gratitude to TFCF, saying that she is optimistic about the operations, and that she believes Otgonzul will be able to rest her right arm under the sunshine very soon, never again to have to hide under long sleeves in the future.

As for Otgonzul, she is most looking forward to having the plaster cast removed, and wearing T-shirts to school, hand-in-hand with her classmates.